Fleeing Sex Offender Surrenders To Authorities

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – A registered sex offender from Palm Bay who was on the run has surrendered to authorities and is back behind bars.

Convicted sex offender Johnny Ray Morgan of Palm Bay, who removed his GPS tracking device and fled on Sunday, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday and is back in jail .(Image courtesy Palm Bay Police Department)

Palm Bay Police Department spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez said Johnny Ray Morgan of Palm Bay, 51, who was on probation for a 1995 sexual battery on a child, turned himself in at the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes on Tuesday afternoon.

Morgan now faces charges of violating his probation, Martinez said.

“Just before noon Sunday, Morgan removed the ankle bracelet which was used as a GPS tracker in order to monitor his movements as a condition of his probation,” Martinez said.

Once the device was cut, it triggered an alarm to alert probation officers who immediately contacted Palm Bay Police.

Officers searched the area where Morgan was last known to stay which was a campsite located in a wooded area behind the Walgreens Store near Minton Road and Malabar Road.

Police found Morgan’s tracking device at the campsite, but Morgan and his personal belongings were gone.

Bulletins were issued along with public notifications.

Morgan is now being held without bond and Morgan will face a judge on Wednesday afternoon for an initial court appearance involving the violation of probation charges.